Robbie Keane missed two sitters and a PK for the Galaxy (LAGalaxy.com)
Sorry, I couldn't help but lead my first RSL 2014 entry with this pic of Robbie Keane. Let's face it. Keane is one of the best, if not THE best striker in MLS, but Saturday night was not his night. Instead the night belonged to a heroic Nick Rimando and a dangerous Joao Plata as RSL defeated the Galaxy 0-1 at StubHub Center.
Of course, it was hard to tell that it was going to be RSL's night from the action in the opening half. The Galaxy opened the match looking very dangerous, and finding quite a bit of open space for Keane, Landon Donovan, and new attacker Samuel. They even got in behind the RSL defense a couple of times. Aaron Maund got the start next to Nat Borchers at CB instead of Carlos Salcedo, and that made me nervous, even knowing that Keane absolutely abused Salcedo in LA last year. Maund held his own early and throughout the game though. At one point in the first half, LA found Keane behind the defense streaking toward Rimando in what appeared to be a 1v1 situation. However Maund, showing flashes of his good speed, got back and tackled the ball away from Keane to save the day. It was remarkable that he didn't give up a yellow card or even a foul. In that moment, Jeff Cassar's confidence in the youngster paid off.
That wasn't the only good chance the Galaxy would have though. In the 34th minute Rimando botched a clearance and sent it straight to Keane. It looked to be lights out for the Ireland Captain as he knocked it back toward the goal. Incredibly the ball smacked off the woodwork, hit the ground, then bounced away from the goal line and the score somehow remained 0-0. A few minutes later, Keane found Donovan on an angle and Landon smacked toward Rimando's near post. Rimando hit the deck and made an outstanding save though, keeping the match yet level as the teams headed into the halftime break.
LA continued their assault in the second half, and RSL's defense continued to bend but not break. Gradually they did start to shut down the space though. Still, the offense seemed to be sputtering some, so Cassar went to his bench. The first sub for the Claret and Cobalt was former NASL Best XI player Luke Mulholland, who came in for Luis Gil in the 66th minute. Gil never really got into the match, but Mulholland had no such issues. Not long after entering, he found himself putting the ball into the back of the net off of a rebound from a Plata shot, but he was whistled offside, despite having two LA defenders and keeper Penedo between him and the goal at the time.
Still, RSL's had signaled their attacking intent and LA was starting to look nervy at the back. In the 80th minute Captain Kyle Beckerman played Plata into the box, and Platita slotted past Penedo to make it 0-1 to RSL. This time there were no flags.
The Galaxy cranked up the pressure over the last ten minutes looking for an equalizer. New Galaxy man, and rather large attacker, Rob Friend entered the match and caused trouble along RSL's back line, but the boys held into stoppage time, that's when it looked like it was all going to blow away.
In the final minute of the 3, Friend went up in the box over Tony Beltran. He fell over theatrically, with the ball striking his hand on the way down. The ref fell for it though, and awarded the Galaxy a penalty kick on the rationale that Beltran had undercut him. It looked to be the opposite for me, but my opinion doesn't matter. Keane stepped to the spot and hoped to redeem himself for earlier misses, but his PK was stoned by Nick Rimando and the points were preserved for Real Salt Lake.
The win launches RSL's new season and the Jeff Cassar era on a high note. They showed real grit and determination despite several things going against them. The Claret and Cobalt will take on San Jose at Buck Shaw stadium next week. For the Galaxy, the played well, and were superior to RSL for large swathes of the match, unfortunately for them, they couldn't finish even one of several possible chances. Still it's hard to argue that LA didn't deserve a point. They have a bye in league play next weekend, but they host Tijuana this week in CCL play. That should be interesting as both Keane and Donovan played 90 minutes in this match.
Now, here are my 3 Stars for the match, the first installment of 2014:
1st STAR: NICK RIMANDO: RSL.--Yes, Nick made a pretty big goof in the first half, but bounced back in epic fashion. He had nine saves on the night, including the big one on Keane's PK in stoppage time.
2nd STAR: Joao Plata: RSL.--Plata was the most consistent offensive threat for RSL. He forced Penedo into a save in the first half on a driven shot, earned a rebound that Mulholland put in for the called back goal in the second, and eventually beat the LA shot stopper for the match winner in the 80th minute.
3rd STAR: Aaron Maund: RSL.--Hell yes, I was nervous. However, Maund did have a good preseason, and really justified Cassar's selection by putting out a solid performance in the back. He also nearly had a goal in the first half. I would really like to see our CBs be a more consistent threat on set pieces this season.
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